A Good Life Part 2
by BuckyBarnesFangirl
Summary: Follow the childhood adventures of Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes, and Gracie Williams. I own only the character of Gracie Williams. All other credit goes to Marvel.


I had met Steve and Bucky when I was eight, two years before. Steve was another Brooklyn resident and he and his mom, Sarah Rogers, lived just a few apartment complexes from us. His dad died in World War I before Steve was born in 1918. Maybe that's why we both stuck to Bucky. He was a year older than us with a normal family: mom, dad, three younger siblings. Bucky was the polar opposite of me and Steve. I was poor little Gracie Williams who never met her dad because he ran out on her mom before she was born. Little Gracie whose older half-brother was killed in a train accident, little Gracie who was always getting into fights and getting bad grades. I was a tomboy and a misfit.

When the three of us attended George Washington High School, Bucky was the overachiever, the handsome athlete, the perfect student, the popular guy. Steve was the one who always had a cold and got beat up for his lunch money. I was the one the girls avoided and the guys didn't understand. Fortunately for Steve and me, Bucky stuck by our side no matter what people said about us. He would often scare away bullies who were interested in making our lives hell.

After about a year of Bucky protecting us, I grew tired of having to rely on someone else for protection. I convinced Bucky to teach us some boxing and wrestling moves to ward off attackers. And boy, did he come through! He dragged Steve and me to the boxing gym three times a week, putting us through grueling workouts. As a sickly child, the workouts didn't take a good toll on Steve's body, but I grew stronger and became less of a target. I stuck by Steve the year we were seniors and Bucky was in college, and he was only beat up twice the whole year!

At home and at school, it was pretty much a three-in-one deal; if you saw Steve Rogers, you could be sure Bucky Barnes and Grace Williams would be right behind him. We often were teased when we grew older, especially me and Bucky in my sophomore year and his junior. That was the year my mom was killed in a car accident, and since I had no immediate family and Mrs Barnes would have rather died than let me go to an orphanage, the Barnes family took me in. Mrs Rogers wanted to take me in, originally, but I took up Mr and Mrs Barnes's offer because I knew Steve and his mom wouldn't be able to afford another person to feed and clothe. Mr Barnes was a technological consultant at Stark Enterprises and Mrs Barnes was a waitress. The Barnes family was not rich, but they had more money to spare than poor Mrs Rogers.

Although I missed my mom dearly, I enjoyed being with the Barnes. Sarah, Jacob, Mary, and Tyler, Bucky's younger siblings and all younger than me, were thrilled to have me there. We were like a big family and we met with the Rogers frequently.

At school, I was being bullied for having no family and having to live with the Barnes, which I didn't understand because everyone liked Bucky. Steve kept telling me to walk it off, they didn't understand.

Since he was so popular, Bucky had a swarm of girls following him wherever he went, and this was enjoyable for me and Steve. We always teased him about it and it would get him all riled up and angry. It was so fun to get him mad! It was one way to make myself laugh.

Steve, Bucky, and I had many good times together during those years. Once we were walking to the store to purchase some sugar and flour for Mrs Barnes. Having recently won a big boxing match, Bucky was exuberantly describing the fight play-by-play to Steve. I was not paying attention; I didn't like attending Bucky's boxing matches much. As he was describing a brilliant right hook, he swung his arm around (with no little force) and pantomimed it. At that moment, I had to choose to step forward, and I caught it right in the eye. Bucky's face went from jubilant to horrified as he ran to me.

"I'm so sorry, Gracie, are you okay? Sorry, I didn't see you!" Although it hurt, I was laughing so hard that I tripped over a crack in the sidewalk and nearly fell on my face. Steve snort-laughed and at first Bucky was sympathetic to me, but he soon started laughing too. I had a magnificent black eye the next day and Bucky had so much fun inventing a story to go along with it.

"How about you fell out of a tree? Or maybe you were mugged? Or how about…"

"How about we just tell the truth?" Steve said, obviously bored to tears. The look of pure horror on Bucky's face was a little disconcerting.

"How is that going to sound, Steve? 'What happened to your eye, Grace?' 'Oh, nothing much, Bucky Barnes just punched me…'" I snorted with laughter.

"But that's what happened, Buck!" Steve insisted. I don't even remember what the story turned into, something about the butt of a rifle and funnel cake...we were such idiots back then. As we grew older, our lives would change dramatically.


End file.
